Shipping device for light airplane parts



Aug M W43 0. C..FERGUSON SHIPPING DEViCE FOR LIGHT AIRPLANE PARTS 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 13, 1941 I Jnvanfor 0550 C 5% 'Gttornegs Aug.24, 1943. o. c. FERGUSON SHIPPING DEVICE FOR LIGHT AIRPLANE PARTS FiledSept. 13, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 w g r (Ittornegs Patented Aug. 24, 1943SHIPPING DEVICE FOR LIGHT AIRPLANE PARTS Otto C. Ferguson, Detroit,-Mich., assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich, acorporation of Delaware Application September 13, 1941, Serial No.410,730

5 Claims. (01. 211-13) This invention relates to shipping and storagecontainers adapted especially for industrial use and'for handling formedand semlformed parts and small sub-assemblies. Under the present planfor increasing airplane production, various parts are being made atdifferent plants and shipped to a final assembly plant. Scarcity ofmaterials and equipment, the element of time, andthe necessary highdegree of perfection redetail sectional views taken respectively onlines 2-2 and 33 of Figure 1;

A suitable base for the container unit may consist of a rectangularframe I formed of angular iron straps welded at the corners and on eachside of which are welded a pair of upstanding hollow posts 2 totelescopically receive complementary posts 3. Transversely spaced siderails '4, preferably of channel form as shown and openquired, allcombine to demand more than ever 10 ing inward y ow e t e e Supportedthe exercise of extreme care in handling the by e w p r of v rtic l po sn e a parts in a manner to protect them from injury able vertically withreference to the base I by the from the start of manufacture to eventualuse. e pic fi of t e p st s tions 2 and one It is an object of theinvention to provide an of which has a series of spaced transverse pings as at 5 to register selectively with an openimproved loadingcontainer particularly useful in the handling of small, light-weight,precision parts which need to be kept free from surface scratches, dentand the like and which container may be loaded with a large number ofparts at l the point of manufacture and then managed as a unit duringstorage and transportation.

A further object of the invention is to provide individual articleretainer pockets of flexible material suspended more or less looselywithin the container so that each article is enveloped between softsurfaces and cradled ina hammock which hangs from the top and swings tocushion shock.

Among other objects of the invention are the ably mounted in the sidesof the container and a strip of flexible material draped over andsecured at spaced intervals to the rods with the portions between throds depending downwardly to afford a succession of article receivingloops. After the loops are loaded through the top, the rods are crowdedtogether to close the mouths of the several pockets and to bring thepockets into close fitting side by side abutment and then additionalsets of pockets are similarly filled until the container is fullyloaded. The fully loaded container may be transferred by the usualindustrial truck to storage position or into a freight car with othercontainer units and shipped for unloading at the point of finalassembly.

Additional objects and advantages will become apparent during the courseof the following specification, having reference to the accompanyingdrawings wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the container andFigures 2 and 3 are ing through the other post section to receive alocating pin 5. V

Between the side rail 4 and of substantially the width of the containerare located a number of articlesuspension devices each including, forconvenience, a multipl pocket unit afforded by a strip or sheet I offlexible material such as canvass, felt, carpeting or the like foldedback and forth upo'nitself with opposite ends of'the sheet and the uppercrest of the undulations draped over and secured as by stitching a fold'around spaced transverse rods 8 whose opposite ends project beyond theedges of the sheet and are received within the grooved trackwaysafforded by the channeled side rails. The flexible strip 1 being securedto the bars 8 at spaced intervals afford depending open ended pockets orloops between adjacent bars to embrace and hug tightly the articles tobe shipped. Such articles by their size will determine the properspacing between the suspension bars 3 and therefore the width as well asthe depth of the pockets. Positioning of the side rails 4 as to heightwill be in accordance with the depth of the pockets.

For loading and unloading the pockets the bars 8 are spread apartsomewhat as illustrated by the broken lines in Figure 1 but normallythey are gathered together so that the mouth at the top of eachsuspended flexible loop is restricted in size and each of the severalpockets hanging loosely therefrom will be in abutment with its neighbor.This side by side abutment, as well as the tension in the loops undergravity or weight of the articles embraced, insures frictionalengagement to hold the articles in place between the flexible facings ofthe suspended loop. While only one group of pockets is illustrated inthe drawings, additional suspension units can be placed in the guidetracks until the container is substantially full. Suitable means may beem- 1. In a shipping device of the character de scribed, a base,vertically adjustable posts carried by the base at each side thereof, apair of channeled rails supported by said posts in transversely spacedparallelism and with their channels opening inwardly toward one another,a series of article carrying cellular containers supported by the railsin the space above the base and each comprising a flexible sheet foldedback and forth upon itself a number of times to provide articlecontaining cells between the upwardly open folds and a group oftransversely extending sheet suspending bars having their opposite endsslidably fitted within the channeled rails with the endmost bars securedto opposite ends of the sheet and the intermediate bars secured to theupper crests of the sheet folds to suspend the article containing cellstherefrom in abutment with one another and means to retain thesuspension bars on the rails in selected load carrying position.

2. In a material handling device of the character described, a loadcontainer having a pair of spaced inwardly open retainer grooves, aseries of suspension bars separable from the container and arranged tobridge said space with opposite ends slidably fitted to said grooves, astrip of flexible material draped over the bars with intervening foldshanging loosely therefrom and constituting individual pockets to receivearticles to be shipped, said bars being slidable apart in the grooves tospread the folds and slidable together in the grooves to contract thefolds and bar engaging retainer means for confining the folds in crowdedtogether article storage relation.

3. A load container including parallel horizontally spaced rails ofchannel section opening toward one another, a series of load suspensionbars having their opposite ends removably in sertable and slidablytracked within said channeled rails and being arranged in groups,flexible sheets, one for each group of bars, and each flexible sheetbeing draped over the bars of its associated group and being securedthereto with the portions of the sheet between succeeding bars hangingdown to provide open top article receiving pockets, each sheet and itsassociated group of bars constituting a unit separable individually fromthe rails and applicable to the rails in succession with other likeunits, said bars being shiftable on the rails to distend the pocket topopenings and means to secure the bars of successively applied units incrowded together relation on said rails after said pockets are loaded.

4. In a shipping device, a load cradling unit comprising a series oftransverse suspension bars and load embracing loops of flexible materialhung from said bars for contraction and expansion of their mouths uponadjustment of the bars toward and from each other and an encompassingunit to enclose said cradling unit interchangeably with other similarunits differing in relative loop depth, said encompassing unitcomprising a base, a pair of transversely spaced rails above the base toprovide supporting tracks for the loop suspension bars of the cradlingunits, and means supporting the rails on the base for relative verticaladjustment to selective height settings determined by loop depth of thecradling unit.

5. In a shipping device, a load encompassing unit having a top loadingopening and comprising a base and a pair of inextensible slidewayssupported on posts above the base defining therebetween said top loadingopening, a load cradling member separable from said unit and comprisinga' flexible sheet of accordion pleated formation and a series ofsuspension bars hanging the folds of said sheet for side by sidefrictional contact and having projecting opposite ends resting slidablyon the slideways for shifting of the bars selectively, said bars beingindependently spreadable in relation to one another to open the foldsindividually for the loading thereof through said top opening andcontractible to compact the folds for gripping the load and means toconfine the endmost of said bars to hold the cradling member againstspreading and the folds thereofsuccessively in tight abutment.

OTTO C. FERGUSON.

